Comments on: Vettel’s frustrating race and Barrichello’s gamble (Bahrain Grand Prix analysis)

By: martinb

martinb — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:45:50 +0000

Looking at Button’s middle stint, he’s an amazingly consistent driver.

By: Ace

Ace — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:53:25 +0000

I disagree with your suggestion that Webbers performance is on par with Coulthard.

I’m a Webber fan and have been watching his times compared with Vettel very closely. Sure, Vettel is indeed an exceptional talent and may well best Webber, but the difference between their laptimes is VERY small… Generally no more than .03 of a second. If Vettel is unbelievably skillful (and let’s face it, he is!) then Webber is certainly no slouch.

Taking into account Helmut Marko’s comment in January that the car suits Vettel’s driving style and not Webber’s, this is all the more impressive. Then there’s the weight difference between the two to consider.

We’re yet to see a clean duel between the two on-track (in dry conditions with full visibility for both). I don’t think there’ll be much between them at all.

Well reasoned opinion, or blatant fanboyism? Maybe a bit of both Guess we’ll wait and see.

By: janis1207

janis1207 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:07:09 +0000

Well, all the overtaking during the first couple of laps was probably due to tyres still having the edge, and drivers making mistakes because the cars were running so closely.
As soon as the field has spread out there’s not so many mistakes, and the special diffusers are making following the car in front of you very difficult again. Hence no overtaking. Work of the Overtaking Group wasted, really.

And yes, the charts are really excellent. Thanks, Keith! Finally there’s a website for technically minded people!

By: todd

todd — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:39:20 +0000

SPAM

By: todd

todd — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:37:42 +0000

just goes to show how fast that redbull car with a renault engine is and no special diffuser.

they have outsmarted the normal diffuser teams, and the super smart diffuser teams to be even smarter…

then again, webber’s performance is on par with couthards, and they never did anything special with that car compared to how vettel is driving it.

i think that car has always had some pace in it, it’s just poor drivers (i’m aussie and i really dont rate webber as an f1 driver at all).

however, vettel is just unbelievably skillful IMO.

he’s a championship contender for many years to come

By: K

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:34:52 +0000

What is this some kind of advert?

By: K

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:22:28 +0000

Ross Brawn likes a punt doesn’t he the only problem is Rubens Barrichello isn’t Michael Schumacher. It looked so easy when Schumi did it but now we can see how hard it actually was, not that anyone will reassess their opinions of the greatest still….

By: Dan M

Dan M — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:51:40 +0000

Anyone see this?

http://bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=97836

By: DB

DB — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:34:33 +0000

I thought that Vettel kept getting out of shape in turn 12/13, before the final straight. This meant he couldn’t close enough in the final corners (14/15) to pick up the tow down the start/finish straight and try to out break the car infront. I think he alluded to this in the drivers interviews, saying his tyres were going off whilst in the McLaren’s & Toyota’s dirty air.

By: Patrickl

Patrickl — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:16:05 +0000

Vettel was able to lap 0.6s quicker, indicating that although overtaking might be easier this year, making up a place is still a challenge.

The goal of the OWG was to make overtaking possible when there is about 1 second advantage.